Turbine ventilator

ABSTRACT

A turbine ventilator adapted to be used with a roof of variable pitch ranging from flat to about 7/12, all as described in a copending disclosure referenced hereinafter. The copending disclosure includes a rotatable turbine made of plastic material. It has a bonnet and several ribs which are set at an angle with respect to one another to enable it to catch the breeze or wind and cause it to rotate. The improvement of the present disclosure is directed to the ribs of the turbine which are connected to the bonnet. The bonnet includes a number of downwardly protruding pins which engage matching holes in a lock ring. The pins are heat expanded to join the lock ring to the bonnet. The ribs slide between the two, engaging the pin or post in a slot. Withdrawal is prevented by means of a locking shoulder having a taper which falls into a matching hole in the rib. This enables the ribs to be assembled in aligned fashion around the bonnet and anchored to the bonnet.

United States Patent Jones July s, 1975 TURBINE VENTILATOR [5 7 ABSTRACT Inventor: James Jones, 6309 wesmne A turbine ventilator adapted to be used with a roof of Housmn, 77036 variable pitch ranging from flat to about 7/l2, all as [22] Filed; Man 19, 1974 described in a copending disclosure referenced hereinafter. The copending disclosure includes a rotatable PP N05 452,543 turbine made of plastic material. It has a bonnet and several ribs which are set at an angle with respect to 52 us. c1. 98/72; 4l6/l78; 416/186 one another to enable it to eateh the breeze or Wind 51 1111. C1. F23] 17 02 and cause it to retate- The improvement of the Present [53] Field of Search u 93/72, 7 5; 416/178 disclosure is directed to the ribs of the turbine which 416/186 186 A 137 are connected to the bonnet. The bonnet includes a number of downwardly-protruding pins which engage [56] References Cited matching holes in a lock ring. The pins are heat ex- UNITED STATES PATENTS panded to join the lock ring to the bonnet. The l'lbS slide between the two, engaging the pin or post in a 2,115,367 4/1938 Levy et 416/178 Slot. withdrawal is prevented means of a l i g shoulder having a taper which falls into a matching 3:267:833 8/1966 Artis et a1...... .:IIII:II::I.II.... 98/72 1116 in the This enab'es the ribs to be assembled in aligned fashion around the bonnet and anchored to Primary ExaminerWilliam F. ODea the bonnet Assistant Examiner-Peter D. Ferguson 7 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures MT 19 ll OKTFHTFDJUL 8 1975 SHEET F/Gl DATENTEDJUL a 1915 3. 893; 383

Fla 5 TURBINE VENTILATOR BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present disclosure is directed to an improvement over the copending application of assignee which bears Ser. No. 279,474, filed Aug. 10. 1972, and which issued as U.S. Pat. No. 3,797,374, on Mar. 19, I974. In the apparatus disclosed therein, a type of plastic turbine ventilator is described. The present disclosure is directed to an improvement over that structure. The present disclosure provides or incorporates a structure where the rotatable turbine is fabricated of a number of ribs which are set at controlled angles and attached to a top or bonnet. This provides a readily easily assembled structure which can be fabricated with a minimum of labor.

The present invention enables the turbine ventilator of the copending disclosure to be assembled more easily.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is summarized as a turbine ventilator which is uniquely made of elastomeric materials which is easily assembled. It is an improvement and is directed to the structure previously disclosed where the improvement is in construction of the rotating turbine. The turbine is normally wind driven. The wind catches the ribs which are canted so that the wind blowing from any particular direction will catch some of the ribs and rotate the turbine. The ribs are spaced regularly about the turbine. They are attached to the bottom side of the top bonnet by a unique mechanism. A lock ring is joined to the bottom side of the top bonnet. The top or bonnet is provided with a number of elastomeric pins which project downwardly into matching openings in the lock ring. The lock ring is secured to the bonnet by thermal expansion of the pins. This joins the two together with a small gap therebetween, the gap being provided by means of alignment ribs on the bonnet which control the size of the gap. The ribs have a slot extending from the upper end along the major dimension. The slot enables the ribs to be inserted, and engages the pin between the bonnet and the lock ring. A lock shoulder which is triangular in section enages a hole punched in the rib where the taper on the shoulder is angled so that the rib can be inserted riding over the angled shoulder, but withdrawal is prevented where the locking shoulder opposes the abutting hole shoulder when the locking shoulder falls in the hole.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a sectional view along the center line of the improved turbine ventilator of the present invention;

FIG. 2 shows an undercut lock tab for joining the lower end of a rib to an encircling ring for fixing the lower end of all of the ribs in the turbine ventilator;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view along the line 3 3 of FIG. 2 showing details of construction of the connector apparatus;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of the upper end of the ribs which are engaged with the bottom side of the bonnet and particularly showing apparatus where the ribs are joined to the bonnet;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view along the line 5 5 of FIG. 1 showing a rectangular hole in the rib which engages and locks against a shoulder which has on its back side a tapered surface; and,

FIG. 6 is a sectional view along the line 6 6 of FIG. 4 showing additional details of construction of the end of the rib to enable it to slide into alignment adjacent to a pin affixed to the bonnet.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Attention is first directed to FIG. I where the turbine ventilator of the present invention is shown at 10. It is thoroughly described and disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,797,374, issued Mar. I9, 1974. The turbine ventilator I0 is similar to that shown in the disclosure incorporated by reference, except in the improvements which will be set forth hereinafter. It includes a rotatable turbine 12 mounted on a shaft 14. The shaft is stationary and supports the turbine on a bearing assembly I6. The bearing assembly is received in a socket or recessed opening on the lower side of a bonnet l8 constructed in accordance with the teachings of the present disclosure. The bonnet 18 covers the top portions of the turbine 12. The bonnet I8 is curved and approximates a segment of a sphere although it need not be precisely spherical in shape. It extends outwardly to a flat portion or encircling lip 20. The lip 20 is preferably in a single plane which is perpendicular to the shaft 14 which supports the turbine 12.

The bonnet 20 supports a number of ribs at 24. There are many ribs, and they are preferably arranged evenly around the bonnet 18. They all extend downwardly to a ring 26 shown in FIG. 2. At the ring 26, the ribs 24 are joined by means of an undercut pin 28 which is non-circular in shape and which passes through a matching hole or opening 30. As stated in the reference patent, the preferred assembly technique utilizes the undercut shoulder beneath the non-round overhang. The pin and opening preferably have similar characteristics in that they are both non-round and have a major length arranged at right angles to the smaller measure. This enables them to be assembled on rotation through and locked to the ring 26. This is shown fully in FIGS. 2 and 3 of the drawings.

Attention is directed to FIG. 4 which shows the bottom or nether side of the bonnet 18 in greater detail. The ribs 24 are curved along the greater portion of their length but extend in the form of a straight tab at the upper end. They have a straight portion which matches the flat lip 20 of FIG. 2, the bonnet. The rib 24 has a long side 38 and a transverse edge 40. The edge or side 40 is the shorter dimension of the rib. The rib has a slot 42 cut from the short side 40 extending approximately parallel to the side 44. The sides 38 and 44 of the rib are not parallel, but rather they extend at an angle as the rib widens, at least at the upper portion thereof. The lower side of the bonnet has a relatively thin downwardly protruding shoulder 46 and a cooperative shoulder 48. The shoulders 46 and 48 are provided at each point where a rib is installed. The shoulders 46 and 48 connect to one another and connect to similar shoulders for adjacent ribs so as to describe a zig-zag shoulder fully encircling the bonnet on the lower side of the lip 20. The shoulders 46 and 48 inscribe an angle which matches the tip of the rib. The shoulder 48 has a length which matches the transverse dimension 40 of the rib. The shoulder 46 is positioned at an angle to firmly contact the side 38 of the rib. The

shoulders 46 and 48 thus direct the ribs at a desired angle with respect to the remaining portions of the bonnet.

Each rib has a small rectangular cut-out portion 50. The cut-out portion 50 is located at a specified location relative to the slot 42. The bonnet incorporates downwardly projecting pins 52. The pins 52 are of substantial length to pass through openings in a lock ring 60 positioned on the lower side of the bonnet. The lock ring 60 is a flat ring and has openings therein to match the diameter and location of the downwardly projecting pins. FIGS. 5 and 6 are similar to one another, but show by comparison and contrast how the lock ring 60 is joined to the lip on the bonnet. The two are assembled with the pin 52 extending through the appropriately located opening and the pin 52 is upset, preferably by heat staking, which joins the two together.

The lock ring 60 incorporates a lock tab 64 which has a vertical shoulder on the left and a tapered surface extending to the shoulder. It is sized to fall in the opening 50 shown in FIG. 4. It falls in that opening when the rib is assembled in the slot between the lock ring 60 and the lip 20. Assembly will be described hereinafter.

After the lock ring 60 has been joined to the lip 20, a rib is inserted in the slot between the two. It is in serted toward the pin 52. The slot 42 passes around the pin, thereby seating the rib 24 at the appropriate location. When the rib is seated relative to the pin, it contacts the shoulders 46 and 48 so that its angular position on the exterior of the bonnet is assured. Absent the tab 64, the rib could be easily withdrawn. The tab 64, however, including the tapered upper face, locks the rib in position. When the end of the rib is inserted in the slot, it rides over the tapered surface until the hole 50 aligns with the shoulder which abuts one side of the hole and thereby locks the rib in position as shown in FIG. 5. At this juncture, the rib cannot be pulled free of the slot. The three components shown in FIG. 5 are then joined together permanently.

The several ribs are assembled around the bonnet 18. When this is completed the bonnet and ribs are assembled in the turbine ventilator 10 of FIG. 1.

The foregoing is directed to the preferred embodiment of the present invention. The scope thereof is determined by the claims which follow.

I claim:

1. In a turbine ventilator which includes a rotatable turbine supported by a generally upright support shaft where the rotatable turbine includes a central top bonnet and a plurality of similar ribs extending therefrom which are spaced about the bonnet, the improvement which comprises means for joining the ribs to the bonnet on sliding insertion of the ribs into a mating slot comprising a portion of said bonnet and aligned relative to said bonnet, and abutting shoulder lock means preventing retrieval of the ribs therefrom.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said slot includes shoulder means which lock on insertion of said rib into a slot between said rib and an adjacent spaced lock ring.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 including a post means fixed relative to said bonnet and including a mating surface on said rib which contacts and engages said post means.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 including an encircling lock ring joined to said bonnet by at least a pair of posts and spaced apart from said bonnet by a shoulder between the two when joined in co-planar assembly.

5. The apparatus of claim 4 wherein said posts are on said bonnet and said lock ring includes openings for receiving said posts.

6. The apparatus of claim 5 wherein said posts are expanded after insertion to lock said lock ring in position next to said bonnet.

7. The apparatus of claim 6 wherein each of said posts also passes through said rib on assembly. 

1. In a turbine ventilator which includes a rotatable turbine supported by a generally upright support shaft where the rotatable turbine includes a central top bonnet and a plurality of similar ribs extending therefrom which are spaced about the bonnet, the improvement which comprises means for joining the ribs to the bonnet on sliding insertion of the ribs into a mating slot comprising a portion of said bonnet and aligned relative to said bonnet, and abutting shoulder lock means preventing retrieval of the ribs therefrom.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said slot includes shoulder means which lock on insertion of said rib into a slot between said rib and an adjacent spaced lock ring.
 3. The apparatus of claim 1 including a post means fixed relative to said bonnet and including a mating surface on said rib which contacts and engages said post means.
 4. The apparatus of claim 1 including an encircling lock ring joined to said bonnet by at least a pair of posts and spaced apart from said bonnet by a shoulder between the two when joined in co-planar assembly.
 5. The apparatus of claim 4 wherein said posts are on said bonnet and said lock ring includes openings for receiving said posts.
 6. The apparatus of claim 5 wherein said posts are expanded after insertion to lock said lock ring in position next to said bonnet.
 7. The apparatus of claim 6 wherein each of said posts also passes through said rib on assembly. 